A first College Expo opens door for Samo Students

On Tuesday, Jan. 28, the college expo was held in the cafeteria, sponsored by the Santa Monica Equity Plan and presented by the National College Resource Foundation. The event was open to all upperclassmen, mainly seniors, who could explore scholarship offers and on-the-spot admission opportunities. It was also an opportunity for Black and Latino students to meet with college recruiters about HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities), HSIs (Hispanic-Serving Institutions), UCs (University Californias), CSUs (California State Universities) and other private institutions. Students could walk around booths and gain more information about the schools.

This event was important to seniors specifically because of the chance to get accepted on the spot and even get application fees waived. It also allowed juniors to get a headstart with the college admissions process, getting students to branch out about colleges nationwide. When walking into the event, students had copies of their transcripts for college administrators to view and determine the decision of a scholarship opportunity. After the event, Mariah Lewis (’25) shared her experience with the reality of the admissions process. “No matter what, you can go to college. Even if it’s not a college on your list, it’s still a four-year university and the opportunity is still there,” Lewis said. “You’re not limited to one option, there’s something for everybody.”

Students were able to walk into the

cafeteria to visit colleges and browse the booths from 9-12 a.m. As most of the schools were mainly HBCU-based, lots of variety was included from the South, as well as more liberal arts. On the other hand, some schools, such as UC Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz, didn’t offer acceptances on the spot and focused on promoting their schools, giving out detailed information and flyers to each student. Although UCs such as Santa Barabra and Santa Cruz appeared, students had many options to present themselves to schools they found intriguing. While those schools didn’t give out acceptances, many were in attendance to promote their schools to the students and give out more detailed information. The schools included CSU Channel Islands, UMASS Global, Simmons College of Kentucky, Hampton University, ASU and tech schools. Not only were colleges setting up booths but many held seminars allowing promotions and holding merch. This event was highly anticipated by college counselors and teachers, spreading the news about this beneficial opportunity. A House Principal, Walter Gavidia, took a huge role in the preparation behind this event as it is the first college expo held at Samo. When this project went into the works, Mr. Gavidia collaborated with parents and the administration to set the plan in motion dating back to last July. Working on this project, Gavidia had to fix the issue in terms of funding but luckily, the City of Santa Monica gave a donation boosting the financial aspects.

While Gavidia wanted to give this opportunity to students at Samo, he hoped students could get seeds planted in their heads while having clarity about which schools they liked and didn’t. Gavidia shared his reasoning behind orchestrating the event, which was dedicated to encouraging students to become more involved with schools outside of California. “I started in community college and found a booth that had a representative of La Verne while walking to class. After talking to the rep, he told me that I had all the credentials to apply, which allowed me to transfer and get my degree,” Gavidia said. “I wanted to make this opportunity possible because it could potentially make a difference in student’s lives the way it did mine by allowing them to have more options.” After the event, Kaitlyn Carnes (’25) expressed her strong feelings about the process of being accepted into college and the immense pressure on many seniors. “I feel pretty fulfilled and it was really validating how the lady with the microphone gave shoutouts to those who got acceptances or scholarships, so it felt really rewarding to get recognized,” Carnes said.